Feature and Follow Friday {12}

Feature and Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. This week's featured blogs are Book Cupid and Bookworm in Love.

This week's question is:

Have you ever read a book that you thought you would hate? Did you end up hating it? Did you end up loving it? Or would you never do that?

My answer:

Hmm, I don't think I ever have. I read what piques my interest, so of course I don't think I'd hate them.

In most cases, I try not to expect anything from a book because then it could not meet those expectations and who would end up disappointed? Me. That's exactly what happened when I read City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I thought it was so otherworldly awesome because of all the love it's getting, but... It wasn't bad; it just didn't end up being as good as I thought it would be.

For new and old followers, I'd really appreciate it if you'll follow me via Bloglovin. You can see my post about this here. Thanks! I'll follow back, of course :D

I'm on Bloglovin!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

 

As you can see, I won't really be losing a lot of followers if Google gets even more bonkers by getting rid of Google Friend Connect (GFC), but I've decided to join Bloglovin because I want to see more posts by you, my friends. I'm not mourning the imminent loss of Google Reader since I don't really use it, but I want to change that with Bloglovin. 

So please follow me via Bloglovin (or e-mail / Linky) and comment below so I can follow you back! :D

Cover Reveal + Giveaway: Northern Bites - Nikki Jefford

Title: Northern Bites (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter #2)

Author: Nikki Jefford

Release Date: June 27th 2013

Publisher: Self-published

Goodreads

Love bites.

Probation sucks.

Thanks to Dante’s recklessness, Aurora is now partners with Valerie: the redheaded, backstabbing vixen.

Dante is in full flirt mode. Fane’s tactics are far more ruthless. Something carnal has awakened in Aurora and neither boy is helping tame her cravings.

When a member of the unit’s team is found dead, Aurora and Valerie are sent after a vampire in Sitka, but Aurora suspects the killer’s much closer to home.

Transfusion (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter #1) is on sale for 99 cents until April 7th for Kindle and Nook.

Giveaway!

Book Review: Unravel Me - Tahereh Mafi

 

Title: Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2)

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Release Date: February 5th 2013

Publisher: HarperCollins

Source: Bought

Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

Our lips
touch
and I know I'm going to split at the seams. He kisses me softly then strongly like he's lost me and he's found me and I'm slipping away and he's never going to let me go.

Juliette has escaped from The Reestablishment. Now she's free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch. Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible. Haunted by her past and terrified of her future, Juliette knows that she will have to make some life-changing choices. Choices that may involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

Oh, Unravel Me. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Just kidding. I can't. There are too many.

As a sequel should, Unravel Me kept and expounded the positives of its predecessor, and left the negatives. The writing was still beautiful and lyrical, but it flowed more smoothly—or maybe that's because I'm used to it now. It was also more emotional than the first because Juliette now had more experience in that department. I really felt all of her ups and downs.

Although Juliette disappointed me by pulling an Edward-Cullen-in-New-Moon, I liked her for the most part. Same goes for the other characters. Adam was being too much of a drama queen, but I understood his reasons for acting like that. But Warner? Well, my Warner was his usual flawless self, of course. Like he'd ever be otherwise.

The immediate tension made me fail in my plan to read this slowly and absorb the words. That tension was kept consistent all throughout, but it didn't exhaust me, and that's thanks to the reprieves brought by kissing romance and friendship. And since I'm on the subject of lightness, I think Kenji deserves to be mentioned. Seriously. That dude cracks me up. (Tahereh, please stop messing him up.)

With heart-pumping action, jaw-dropping revelations, and totally unforeseen twists, this climax of a book had me glued until that dreaded last page. That final scene has me dying for more, especially since (I hope this isn't too spoiler-y) Juliette declared that she was done being nice. I don't know what this says about me, but I've always wanted to see her the way Warner did: wild and dangerous. Also, I can't wait to know for sure who she'll end up with because both choices are equally possible.

MY FAVORITE PART WAS CHAPTER SIXTY-FREAKING-TWO. Dude. Dude. My. Heart. Cannot. Handle. Warner. Like. That. 

I want this up. I want these down.

What the fark, Warner. You can't just say things like that! Are you trying to kill me, you glorious bastard?!

RATING:

 

I gave the first book a five, too, but this was better. (I seem to be doing that a lot with sequels—not that I'm getting to read lots of them.)

(cover and blurb from Goodreads.com)

Book Review: 'Til the World Ends

Title: 'Til the World Ends

Authors: Julie Kagawa, Ann Aguirre, Karen Duvall

Release Date: January 29th 2013

Publisher: HarlequinLUNA

Source: NetGalley

Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

Dawn of Eden by Julie Kagawa

Before The Immortal Rules, there was the Red Lung, a relentless virus determined to take out all in its path. For Kylie, the miracle of her survival is also her burden-as a doctor at one of the clinics for the infected, she is forced to witness endless suffering. What's worse, strange things are happening to the remains of the dead, and by the time she befriends Ben Archer, she's beginning to wonder if a global pandemic is the least of her problems...

Thistle & Thorne by Ann Aguirre

After a catastrophic spill turns the country into a vast chemical wasteland, those who could afford it retreated to fortresses, self-contained communities run by powerful corporations. But for Mari Thistle, life on the outside-in the Red Zone-is a constant struggle. To protect her family, Mari teams up with the mysterious Thorne Goodman. Together, they'll face an evil plot in both the underworld of the Red Zone and the society inside the fortresses that could destroy those on the outside...for good.

Sun Storm by Karen Duvall

Sarah Daggot has been chasing storms since she was a child. But after the biggest solar flares in history nearly destroy the planet, she becomes a Kinetic, endowed by her exposure to extreme radiation with the power to sense coming storms-in the cosmos and beyond. And she's not the only one. Sarah believes the Kinetics are destined to join forces and halt the final onslaught of the sun. She'll vow to keep trying to convince the one missing link in their chain of defense, the enigmatic Ian Matthews, up until the world ends.

I haven't read anything by any of these authors—yeah, not even Julie Kagawa—but I've been hearing great things about all of them so even if this book's an anthology, I was excited to read it. Sadly, only one of the three stories satisfied me. 

Dawn of Eden - Julie Kagawa
This story is a prequel novella to Kagawa's Blood of Eden series, and honestly, it didn't encourage me to start the series anytime soon. I couldn't sympathize with the main characters, and I felt like their romance wasn't needed in the plot, either. However, I am curious about the strange man who helped them, who I'm pretty certain appears in the next books.

Thistle & Thorne - Ann Aguirre
Now this is the one that satisfied me. It's perfectly placed as the middle story, really, because it makes up for the first one and prepares for another trip downhill in the next story. 

I loved the badass main characters, Mari and Thorne, who totally reminded me of Tris and Four from Divergent. And as short stories should, the action immediately kicked in and I found myself being unable to put this down.  

Now, while I complained about the romance in Dawn of Eden (as I will in Sun Storm in just a little while), the romance in here felt like the cliffhanger—or maybe that's because I'm a sucker for badass romance. Anyway, that aspect made me wish this will get continued in a full-length novel!

Sun Storm - Karen Duvall
My liking for this one falls somewhere in the middle of the first two above. Sun Storm started out well, but the romance—slight insta-love, even—messed up the awesome equation.

I loved the idea of Kinetics a.k.a. the mutants brought about by the intensified sun rays, especially since I'm one of those who believe that the world will end when the sun does, and the deadly heat waves in this story are one of the signs of that death. And I also really just have a weakness for mutants. But something that I found unrealistic in this story was how only human skin was susceptible to the heat, not buildings or cars or even tents. Also, the more the government and other Kinetics got involved, the more confused I got. And I guess it says a lot that I struggled to read the last 10% of this story.

MY FAVORITE PART was the car/motorcycle (failing memory, sorry) chase in Thistle & Thorne.

RATING:

(cover and summary from Goodreads.com)